The Magic of Greengrass'Greengrass
by rainbowspring
Summary: Formerly known as Workplace Rumors.Astoria Greengrass -the new boss of Greengrass' Greengrass, a wizarding landscape and design company- hires Draco Malfoy to be her personal assistant. What happens when Draco must work alongside old enemies and begins to fall in love with his boss -the only woman in the world willing to give him a second chance- in the process?Mayhem ensues.
1. Chapter 1

**So a family member of mine came up with the original idea for this story, and I decided to write it from there. For readers of any of my other HP fanfics, this story doesn't relate to any of them. (Though they are all included on my profile, for anyone who wants to read them.) By the way, this symbol: G~G will represent scene changes. This story takes place about three years or so after the Battle of Hogwarts, so there will be spoilers for the end of DH. Anyway, with that in mind, please enjoy! **

**Disclaimer: I do not own ****Harry Potter**** or any of the characters used in this story. **

Workplace Rumors and Mayhem Chapter 1: The Job Interview

Draco Malfoy didn't have anything to do after the war. No one would employ him due to his Death Eater past, although he didn't need the money; he just needed an excuse to get out of the house. So when his mother came up to him holding the Daily Prophet one morning during breakfast while his father was sleeping off a hang-over, he looked up from his food and paid attention.

"Draco, do you remember Daphne Greengrass?" His mother asked, taking a seat next to him.

Draco nodded. "Yes, why?"

"Did you ever meet her sister?" Narcissa enquired.

Draco paused for a moment. He seemed to remember Daphne talking about having a sister before, though he didn't recall ever speaking to her sister, and didn't remember what her sister looked like, that was if he ever even met her. "Not that I remember."

"Well, as you may know, the Greengrass family is one of the few pure-blood Wizarding families who remained essentially neutral throughout the war. However, I do get on rather well with Mrs. Greengrass. I was talking with her recently, and she mentioned that her husband is retiring from the landscape and design business he runs: Greengrass' Greengrass. Their daughter Astoria Greengrass, Daphne's sister, will be taking over the company. Mrs. Greengrass said she would be willing to recommend you to her daughter to become her personal assistant. There's an article in the Daily Prophet with more information, and I truly think this would be good for you, Draco."

Narcissa handed Draco the newspaper. "I honestly think that this would be good for you Draco; you don't have many opportunities now because of our involvement with the Death Eaters during the war, and I know that you don't need the money, but I know that neither of us likes being cooped up in the house with your father. I can handle that Draco; I can find good enough reasons to leave the house when I can, and people are slightly less judgmental of me than they are of you, due to my never officially getting the mark, as well as my assisting the other side at the last moment, and thus aiding Harry Potter win the war. "

"You, however, need to escape from all of this Draco, and the first step towards doing that is by getting a job, and becoming a little more independent. The Malfoys have lost their social standing in society it is true, however I am certain that in time, if we take the right steps, we may very well regain some of our standing."

Draco was silent for a moment, before deciding, "Very well, Mother. I'll look into it."

**G~G**

Draco learned from the article that Astoria Greengrass was two years younger than him, which partially explained her never meeting him prior, as well as her being Sorted into Hufflepuff, much to his surprise. During his seventh year and her fifth year,-the year Voldemort took over Hogwarts and the Ministry of Magic- she and her sister Daphne had been transferred to Beauxbatons Academy of Magic, where they both completed their magical education, which explained why Draco hadn't seen Daphne in school during his seventh year. From the article Draco could gather that she had been a rather bright witch at school, though that was more or less about it.

**G~G**

The day arrived when Draco was to attend the job interview with Astoria Greengrass. He decided to wear a green tie for the occasion, partially as a habit from his Slytherin days, and partially due to the fact that the company's name was _Green_grass' _Green_grass… well; it had seemed rather witty at the time. Draco reasoned that he would want his boss to be under the impression that he was on the right side after the war, and though in his mind it was rather foolish, he figured that if he appeared to have a sense of humor, this might make him more appealing for the job.

The job interview was to be held on the Greengrass estate. Greengrass Manor was on the same estate as Greengrass' Greengrass, just in a different part of the grounds, all of which were exceptionally green and there didn't appear to be a single blade of grass out of place. The difference between Greengrass Manor and the Greengrass' Greengrass building was that the company building was connected to a greenhouse, whereas Greengrass Manor was not.

Draco Apparated in front of Greengrass' Greengrass, where before he could even ring the doorbell, the door swung open and out stepped Daphne Greengrass.

Daphne hadn't appeared to change much since Hogwarts; she was still only about five feet tall, and still had the same matching chestnut colored- eyes and hair that she wore in pigtails. Her fashion sense had not changed either. She wore baby blue dress robes, but had the tailored so that they fit rather loosely over her petite frame, had short and puffy sleeves, with a hem that went just above the knees, white stockings, golden buttons at the top, white lace along the hem and collar, and finally, in each ponytail she had two sky blue ribbons tied into exquisite bows that kept her long chestnut mane in place.

All in all, although she was Draco's age, she only looked as though she were about twelve or thirteen years old. Draco was used to this, although he had expected her to look at least slightly different after all this time, yet here she was, as youthful looking and bright eyed as ever.

"Hi Draco!" She greeted happily.

"Hello Daphne," He gave a curt nod, feeling suddenly out of place.

"Please come in, my sister will be ready to see you in moment!" Daphne dragged Draco in through the doorway before Draco could even walk in himself. "I'm going to be working here to, you know," Daphne informed him; evidently her endless amount of energy and friendly personality had not changed since Hogwarts either. "I'm one of the designers here for the company."

"Oh yes, I seem to remember that you tended to draw a lot when we were in school,"  
Draco recalled.

"I made my own jewelry too," Daphne added.

They had entered a grand green hallway with a chandelier hanging from the ceiling, and wood benches on the sides of the hall. Several doors were aligned the sides of the hall as well.

"Take a seat right over here," Daphne pointed to the benches. Draco sat down. "I'll go see if Astoria's ready for you yet," Daphne told him as she disappeared behind one of the doors. As Draco waited, he started wondering what his interviewer would be like. He had dressed in his best clothes for the occasion, so he wasn't too concerned about his appearance. What he was concerned about thigh was if she would really hire him despite his past. Moreover, he did not even know what a PA was supposed to do. He was just pondering this when the door opened. Daphne came out-no, skipped out, that was the way Daphne walked- and chirped, "She's ready for you."

Draco walked into the room where Astoria Greengrass was waiting for him. She appeared to be several inches taller than Daphne, -by at least half a foot even without the slight heels attached to the bottom of her shoes- and wore a flowing white sundress that went just below the knee, an open elbow-length yellow sweater with a matching rose sewn onto it like a corsage, and wore her hair in a honey-blonde bun held in place exempting a couple of loose strands that hung against the sides of her face by silver hair pins, and had blue eyes.

She smiled at him when he walked in. "You must be Draco Malfoy," she said."Please, sit down." As he sat down in front of the oak desk, he noticed that she had on a rather nice pearl necklace, and her shoes were marigold colored, open-footed, and actually had marigolds sewn on the sides of her shoes.

"So Draco I was looking at your records and I think you might be good at this," Astoria said. "But I just have one or two tests you need to pass to get the job."

She thought he might be good at this? What records was she talking about?

"Draco it appears my desk is on fire," Said Astoria. Draco stared at the desk.

"It's not on fire!" It wasn't flaming at all.

"Oh really? Well then-"Astoria lifted her wand and waved it at her desk. "_Incendio!"_

The desk went alight in flames. Draco jumped from his seat and waved his own wand at the desk now. "_Aguamenti!" _He yelled and a jet of water sprayed from his wand. The fire was immediately extinguished; the only evidence of its ever being there was the desk looking slightly charred.

"Are you out of your mind?" Draco shouted. He knew this was a job interview, but really, he didn't want this job if he was going to work for someone insane.

"I'm just as sane as you," Astoria replied, although this didn't console Draco much. "I was just testing your magical abilities. Could you now perform a spell that will get rid of the burnt appearance on my desk?"

He waved his wand and the charring vanished. Astoria beamed. "Good, I looked over your grades from school, and you appear to be a very talented wizard Draco. I wanted to make sure you could use these skills in your job. Oh, I've heard about the bad things too-you know what I'm talking about- but I believe you have reformed Draco. You told me that I was being out of line; you know the difference between right and wrong now."

"I think I've always known that setting objects alight was not a good idea," Draco informed her.

Astoria shook her head. "What I meant by that Draco was that if You-Know-Who had done that, you wouldn't have stopped him. You stopped me even though it meant you might not get the job. I've heard rumors about you Draco," Astoria said, voice gentle. "I've heard people talk about all the things you've done, and I know that you've done things in the past.

"However, I don't believe that you would join You-Know-Who- again if- God forbid- he somehow was revived from the bed and came back to power. I've heard people say you're still a criminal at heart, even that you're still up to illegal activities. But I don't believe any of that Draco. Not from what Daphne's told me about you, and from what you're mother said, and from meeting you could I believe that. "

"It's been nice meeting you Draco."Astoria stood up. "I'll let you know about my decision by sending you a letter in the mail-ma few other people have applied for this job- but, and you better not let this go to your head- you might actually have a good chance of getting this job."

And with that being said, Astoria stood up and shook his hand. Draco nodded, and left the office, feeling confused and light-headed.

**Please review! **


	2. My Boss is Crazy

**Thanks so much to everyone so far who has reviewed or added this to story alerts! *Hands out cyber fudge.* **

**Disclaimer: I do not own ****Harry Potter**** or any of the characters used in this fanfic. **

Chapter 2 : My Boss is Crazy

Draco received a reply in the mail from Astoria a few days later informing him he had got the position. The letter also sent a reply asking him to respond as quickly as possible as to whether or not he was certain of taking the position, and that if he was, he was to come back to Greengrass' Greengrass on Monday. It was Friday when Draco received the letter, and after he mailed her a reply, he spent the weekend at home listening- or pretending to listen -to Lucius's drunken ramblings while Narcissa went out shopping.

Lucius had become something of an alcoholic after the war, but he was not abusive towards his family and he never got alcohol poisoning; he was however a nuisance and an embarrassment for them. Narcissa did not like the prospect of him leaving the house very often and shaming the family further, so Lucius seldom left the house. Draco did not have anything to do that evening- or any excuse to leave the house, like Narcissa did- so he was stuck taking care of Lucius. Lucius was not cruel to Draco; on the contrary, he was actually nicer to Draco drunk than he was when he was sober. However, Draco did grow wary of having to babysit his own father, and sometimes even went shopping with his mother just to avoid the tediousness.

Tonight though, he was unable to accompany his mother, because she was shopping for something personal; lingerie. Neither Draco nor Narcissa fancied the idea of going women's underwear shopping together, so Draco decided he'd rather be stuck at home watching Lucius rather than being humiliated in public by going into a store selling women's undergarments with his mother. For some reason, he also had a feeling he wouldn't even be allowed in the store due to his Death Eater past, so since he did not want to create any potentially awkward situations, here he was now listening as Lucius drunkenly rambled about his youth. Lucius wasn't always boring when he was drunk; occasionally he could be rather exciting, even amusing, but tonight was one of those nights where Draco wished he could be anywhere except home.

Draco was actually thinking about work and was hoping for the weekend to end. Five years ago, when he had been thinking about his future, he had imagined working alongside You-Know-Who, not being stuck at home with his drunk of a father, actually hoping he could go to work so he could leave the house. Funny how times had changed. Now he found himself thinking about his new boss Astoria Greengrass. They had spoken to each other for less than an hour, yet she was without a doubt, in his mind, a very strange witch indeed.

**G~G**

Eventually, Draco's torturous weekend ended and he returned to the Greengrass Estate Monday morning. Astoria was the one to answer the door this time instead of Daphne when he rang the bell, being as the door was locked. He was surprised that he was actually relieved when she answered. He was worried for a moment he had gotten the date wrong and would have to go home. Shaking off his feelings- which were not major or anything, he told himself, it wasn't like he really cared about this job, of course, or the witch currently holding the door open for him, or anything like that obviously; he just didn't want to be completelybored out of his mind all day- he entered the building without so much as a greeting.

"Good morning to you too," Astoria commented as she shut the door. Her hair was worn loose and, when Draco looked at her, was longer than he would have expected it to be, cascading past her shoulder blades in a golden waterfall. She had on the same sweater as last time, but she was wearing a different sundress, although it was still white. Her dress from last time had had ruffles, whereas this one was smooth and had a couple of fake white roses sewn into the front skirt of the dress.

"Come this way," Astoria told him and they stepped into the room the job interview had taken place in just under a week ago. "Do you know what this position requires of you, Draco?"

"Of course I do," He replied even though he didn't. He was a Malfoy, and stubbornness was in their genes, particularly when it came to being wrong and not knowing things.

"What is expected of you then?" Astoria quizzed him.

He thought for a moment. "Organizing papers…. making and reminding you of appointments, er…" he was running out of ideas as soon as he looked into her eyes. There was something about that intense blue gaze that made him feel as if he were being inspected under a microscope. (Even though he didn't know what that was.)

"All of what you've said so far is accurate Draco," Astoria informed him. He was relieved he had not made a fool of himself. "However," she went on, and he realized he had not fooled her for a moment. "I can tell you weren't being honest with me a minute ago. As my personal assistant, my career is, in a sense, essentially in your hands. If you want to keep your job, total honesty is required. How can I trust you if you're dishonest? This is a situation that requires a mutual amount of trust from both parties cooperating. I may ask your opinion on certain matters and decisions I plan on making, and that requires you being entirely truthful with me Draco. Understand?"

"Yes," Draco replied stiffly. He wondered how she had been able to see right through him. He was a Malfoy, and Malfoys were good at hiding their emotions and true intentions. Anyone else would have believed him. Why didn't she?

"Good, now Draco, today we will be sending replies to people who did not receive any of the job positions offered informing them of this. How fast can you write?"

"How fast do you need me to?" He smirked.

"Well then, let's see the full range of your abilities," Astoria declared. "Also how neatly can you write?"

"Very, "He sneered.

"Really," Said Astoria. "Could you give me a writing sample then? My own handwriting is abominable, so I need someone with neat hand writing to write these so that the replies are actually legible for the people reading them. "

"What do you want me to write?" Draco asked.

Astoria pulled out paper and a pen as she answered," The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog."

Draco was mildly surprised that she was giving him a paper and pen, rather than a quill and parchment. Astoria must have noticed because she said," I have quills and parchment if you don't know how or are uncomfortable writing using those. I always use those because I find them easier to use, but if you'd rather-"

"I can use these," Draco interrupted. Quills and parchment were what wizards should use as writing utensils; not pens. Pens were for Muggles. Some of Draco's prejudice towards Muggles and Muggle–Borns had died down since the war. He regretted his actions towards them as a Death Eater, and would certainly never consider becoming one again, but he was still rather uncomfortable amongst Muggle customs that the Wizarding world was starting to become accustomed to, to a certain extent. Since the war, Muggle objects and customs were starting to become more popular in the Wizarding world these days.

However, Draco did not want her to think him inferior, or unknowledgeable about how to even use a pen, or that he was still too prejudiced against Muggles to even learn; because he wasn't, he knew very well how to use Muggle writing utensils, he just preferred Wizard ones.

He wrote the sentence as Astoria asked and gave it to Astoria when he was done. She looked over it and beamed. "Good job, Draco. This is very legible. By the way, do you know why I chose that particular sentence for you to write? "

"It contains all the letters of the alphabet," Draco answered after a moment of thought. "Therefore, it would be a good way to examine my handwriting skills in just one sentence."

"Very observant, aren't you?" Astoria nodded. "Yes, that's correct. Now, let's begin…"

**G~G**

For the next hour or so, Draco dictated Astoria's replies as she spoke. He noticed how her replies were a perfect combination of both not unkind but firm. He also noticed a few familiar names as he wrote the letters, but he did not say any of his smug thoughts aloud. Finally she stopped and said, "Okay, I think now would be a good time to take a break. Draco, would you please go and make me some tea?"

"I don't remember that part being in the job description!" Draco replied before he could stop himself. Making tea? That made him sound like a bloody house elf. She was lucky that he had dictated for her without complaint, and now she wanted him to make tea for her?

"Well, it's part of the job," Astoria was unfazed by his outburst. "You go the kitchen- three doors down and to the right you'll find a narrow passage at with a door at the end that's the kitchen- and please make me some tea, I'm thirsty. On the way, you can just stop by Daphne's room, directly across the hall from us, and she'll show you how I like my tea. "

Draco considered arguing with her, when a horrible thought set in. This young witch before him, who was not even twenty years old yet, was his boss. And he actually was expected to do what she asked without too much if any complaint. And she could theoretically fire him if he refused to make tea for her. And he would then be stuck at home jobless, possibly for the rest of his life. So unless he wanted the rest of his life to be more miserable than it was now, he must do as she asked.

"Fine then," He obeyed through gritted teeth, and left to fix his boss tea.

**G~G**

He knocked on the door to Daphne's office, which she opened immediately. He explained his situation and she instantly dragged him by the hand and led him to the kitchen.

If hiring and trusting a former Death Eater wasn't enough to convince him there was something at least a little off about his boss, finding out how Astoria Greengrass took her tea did. Her tea was not tea with sugar, oh no: It was sugar with tea. He poured and stirred the tea as Daphne instructed him, and then was told to proceed to pour five _tablespoons _of sugar into her tea, and an extra tablespoon of honey to top it off.

"Five tablespoons of sugar?" Draco repeated .

"And one tablespoon of honey," Daphne added.

"That's mental!" Draco exclaimed. "My God, is she _trying_ to give herself diabetes?"

"She's been doing this for years and she's had no health problems yet," Daphne shrugged. "I've asked her and she assures me she talks to a Healer, and so far the only side effect noticed is that she becomes a little hyper and positive after taking it. I think she's taking necessary precautions for drinking this, probably; she knows how to take care of herself, she's an adult now, and she's always been responsible. If she wasn't, do you really think our dad would give her the company?"

Draco had no answer to this and decided to just pour the amount of sugar in that he was supposed to.

**G~G**

Draco returned to the office with tea.

"Thanks, "Astoria smiled and took the tea, and then proceeded to take a nice long gulp of it.

"Hey Draco, do you want to take a look at my handwriting? It's REALLY bad!" Astoria said this all very fast and in such a hyper tone of voice that it was honestly a bit frightening. He strongly suspected it was the tea. He decided there was no harm in looking at her handwriting if she really wanted to show it to him.

"If you want to," he agreed. Astoria took the pen Draco had been using earlier, tore out a sheet of paper from a notepad, and proceeded to write the same sentence Draco had done earlier. As Draco looked at it, he realized she was right: It truly was abominable.

"If you don't mind my saying that is the worst handwriting I have ever seen before in my life." Draco stated bluntly.

"Well duh," Said Astoria, giggling. "Of course it is! I'd be shocked if it wasn't!" Then she proceeded to have a rather unprofessional giggling fit.

Once she settled down a few minutes later, he asked cautiously," Miss Greengrass, I have to admit, I'm curious: Why do you take so much sugar with your tea?"

"It gives me visions," Astoria mentioned casually.

"Visions?" Draco repeated. "Are you a Seer then?"

"No, I wish," Astoria sighed, and it occurred to Draco how oxymoronic it was that she could sigh and still sound hyper. "What I mean by visions is that it gives me ideas, or even epiphanies. Inspiration, if you will. It also gives me energy when I'm tired and actually manages to calm me when I'm upset, strange as that may sound."

"I see," Draco said carefully.

"Oh!" Astoria exclaimed so suddenly and enthusiastically it surprised Draco. "We should be getting back to work, shouldn't we? I've got it, instead of getting back to the rejection letters, we should work on the acceptance letters so people who were accepted will receive them sooner, and therefore hopefully be more joyous sooner. Also, there are less acceptance letters to write than rejection letters, and I do hate writing those. Or rather, saying them while you write them. "She laughed again, and Draco wondered how she could be laughing when she was just talking about something she hated to do. They got back to work soon enough though, and Astoria literally squealed with glee a couple of times while she told Draco what he was supposed to write. He paid extra attention when writing these letters, making sure to listen to names so that he would know who he'd be seeing around the place.

His co-workers shocked him immensely. He learned that within a few days he would begin to work with: Seamus Finnegan-the idiot from Hogwarts who always blew things up or set them on fire- Dean Thomas,-a Gryffindor Muggle-Born, Lee Jordan, Luna Lovegood-the crazy Ravenclaw- and last but certainly not least, Neville Longbottom.

"Longbottom!" He spluttered when Astoria had got to him.

Astoria raised an eyebrow at him. "Yes, have a problem with that?"

"I have a problem with all of the people you just mentioned actually!" Draco enlightened her. "Loony Lovegood will give people the impression that your company is a joke, Seamus Finnegan set everything on fire at Hogwarts, he'll probably set the building on fire, Thomas is a Mud- Muggle-born" he amended himself quickly, trying to think of a reason Dean Thomas would not work well with the company. "He didn't finish his last year at Hogwarts, therefore he's probably not qualified, Lee Jordan never kept a level head at Hogwarts during Quiddich matches, he probably won't work well with others, and Longbottom was terrible at nearly every subject at Hogwarts!" Draco finished ranting.

"Draco, do you _really_ think I would have hired these people if I didn't think they were qualified or if they were unreliable?" Astoria reminded Draco after a moment's pause.

_Well, you hired me_. He thought to himself.

"Luna Lovegood is a very talented witch, Neville Longbottom has improved his magic very much since Hogwarts, and I've met him before now so I know for a fact he would do well in the company, Lee Jordan actually does work well with others, Dean Thomas finished his education after the war, and Seamus Finnegan… well, I think he'll do well with what I have in mind for him." Astoria explained. "But let's be honest Draco. You weren't really concerned so much about the rest of that, were you? You just don't want to associate these people because they all associate with your past in one way or another. "

Draco wondered how she could read him so well. He also wondered how she knew Neville Longbottom.

"If you're really so against this idea, Draco, the door's that way. " Astoria motioned towards the door.

He thought about it for a moment. It wasn't like he'd be working with the Weasleys or Potter or anything like that. And compared to his alternatives if he quit, he supposed he'd better keep his job. Besides, he wouldn't really be working with them so much as just aiding Astoria in her work. Right?

"I'm going to go take my lunch break now," He decided looking at the clock and Apparated home for lunch. Lucius was drinking again when he got home, and as he watched his father talk like an idiot, he realized what he'd be stuck with if he quit just because of a few co-workers, he knew instantly he would be returning to work as soon as he finished his lunch.

**G~G**

After lunch, Draco returned to work and finished dictating Astoria's letters, and made her more tea a couple of times. Afterwards, Astoria led him to a room in the building where they would mail the letters. The room reminded Draco very much of the Hogwarts Owlery. There were literally dozens of owls, of all varieties. Draco gave letters to each owl while Astoria watched, and they all flew away at once as Astoria told him how to instruct them to do so.

"Isn't it amazing?" She said, as the owls all flew away into the blue sky. "I'd always do this when I was younger on days the company had off. I usually wouldn't even be sending letters; I just liked seeing them fly all at once, you know? Wouldn't it be so cool if humans could grow wings and fly like that? I know we have broomsticks to fly with, but I get the feeling it's just not the same. "

Draco couldn't help but nod at that. He had to admit she had a point, but he wasn't willing to admit to something that sounded so silly out loud. He thought of his life since the war; sometimes he really _did_ want to fly away…

"Hey, do you want to play Quiddich?" Astoria solicited suddenly.

"What?" Draco was broken from his train of thought.

"Maybe I'm just overly hyper from the tea, and I know work doesn't end for another hour or so, but frankly I'm bored. I feel like flying on my broom. Care to join me?"

"No," Draco answered without considering. He adored flying, but honestly. This was utterly ridiculous. Flying on a broom on the job? They weren't Quiddich players, for crying out loud. He might as well just leave early. Besides, he had a feeling that with all that caffeine in her system, maybe Astoria shouldn't be on a broom. They'd just have to do more work tomorrow anyway if they slacked off today.

Astoria pouted, looking slightly disappointed. "I suppose you're right, we really should go back to work. We need to make a schedule for the week. Let's go back to my office…"

Astoria and Draco discussed her schedule for the week, and Draco wrote down all of the details. Draco then went home. As Draco arrived home from work, he found himself thinking one thing: His boss, he had to admit, really was exceptionally nice. But she still was more than a little eccentric, to say the least.

**A/N: Draco's bashing of some of the characters earlier is not my own opinion. I actually like all of those characters; it's just that Draco doesn't. **

**Pretty please review! :D **


	3. Draco MalfoyLost in the Dress Department

**A/N: Thanks so much to everyone, who has reviewed or followed.*Hands out cyber brownies.* The "What about lunch?" bit in here was inspired by a scene in the musical, ****How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying,**** -which I do not own- though I believed I used slightly different dialogue. Here's chapter 3!**

**Disclaimer: I do not own ****Harry Potter**** or any of the characters in this fanfic. **

Chapter 3: Draco Malfoy: Lost in the Dress Department

The rest of the week went by faster than Draco had expected it to. He helped Astoria with organizing everything that needed to get done so that work for the rest of the future employees would start on Monday. Draco was actually enjoying himself just the tiniest bit possible, not that he would ever admit it out loud. The first time he was made aware of this was when his mother commented upon seeing him return home from work on Thursday that he was smiling, something he had not done very often since the war.

"Did you have a nice day, Draco?" Narcissa inquired.

"What makes you ask?" Draco responded suspiciously. Narcissa had asked him about work before, but there was a look in her eyes, suggesting she knew something he didn't.

"You just seem to be in a good mood that's all." Narcissa answered casually.

"Oh." Draco thought about it for a moment. He supposed he had been a bit happier these past few days: He had an excuse to get out of the house, he was spending his day, often times quite alone, with a young- and, he had to admit, notably attractive- free spirited, and fun witch. Astoria Greengrass' cheerfulness and positive attitude were, he supposed, a bit contagious.

**G~G**

Now it was Friday; he was just about to take his lunch break when she informed him, "You know, we technically finished everything we needed to get done that was on the schedule just now, but we still have a few hours left after lunch before we can officially call it a day… Oh!" She clapped her hands together suddenly. "I know what we can do after lunch!" She grinned at Draco, as though expecting him to know or guess what she was thinking of.

He waited a moment, before asking, "What exactly did you have in mind Miss Greengrass?"

"Okay, I'll tell you," she paused and he actually found himself intrigued. Finally she spoke. "Lunch."

"What about it? "Draco raised an eyebrow.

"What about what?" Astoria solicited pleasantly.

"What about lunch." He stated, trying not to let the impatience seep into his voice.

"I'd love to!" Astoria smiled. "And I know this lovely little café we can go to!"

"Miss Greengrass, I don't know if that's appropriate-"Draco began.

"Oh it's fine." Astoria assured him. "You don't have to pay for me; it's not a date or anything like that."

"No, that's not the problem." For some reason Draco could not help but feel slightly annoyed that she had included that last part of the sentence, though he did not understand why. "I was planning on eating lunch at home again…"

"Oh, all right," Said Astoria. "I don't want to interfere if you have plans-"

"But I don't think my mother would have a problem if I ate out today instead." Draco surprised himself by saying this. Astoria looked as surprised as he felt. "I'll just send her an owl notifying her about the change of plans."

**G~G**

Astoria and Draco Apparated in front of cozy looking tea shop in a wizarding village Draco was not familiar with.

"I used to come here all the time when I went to Beauxbatons," Astoria enlightened him. "Right now we're somewhere in France,-I won't tell you where- though in an area not anywhere near where Beauxbatons is located, in case you had any plans of sneaking in or something. I used to Apparate to this place sometimes on weekends. Most of the items on the menu have English translations listed underneath though. This place sells American, English and French food. " She added.

They entered the shop, and Draco was surprised to find no one giving him any dirty looks as he walked in, although in fairness there weren't that many people in the shop to begin with. Also, it was quite possible his infamous deeds as Death Eater were not as well known in France as they were in England… He liked that.

The two looked over the menus and placed their orders.

"So..." Draco decided to initiate the conversation. "What did you want to do after lunch?"

"We," Astoria announced. "Are going to go dress shopping. And shoe shopping."

"Why?" Draco questioned, before a thought occurred to him. "You aren't planning on spending the company's money on clothes are you?"

"NO!" Astoria for once was offended. "I would never do that; I'm not irresponsible."

It was then that Draco realized from the look Astoria was giving him that proper conduct, unless he felt like losing his job, was to apologize to Astoria. Damn, this was going to be difficult. He had apologized only a few times in his entire life, and not because he hadn't done things warranting an apology from him; he could recall many instances in his life when he should have apologized, but he rarely did.

He tried to say 'I'm sorry' but the words would not form on his lips. _Old habits die hard, _he thought dryly. So, instead he settled on saying "My apologies, Miss Greengrass." This was easier to say, being as it was less direct.

Astoria sighed, having calmed down now. "It's all right, I overreacted. It was actually smart of you to ask me that, to make sure I wasn't going to do anything irrational. I plan on spending my own pocket money to buy me a new outfit for work on Monday, but I wasn't planning on spending any money from the budget."

Draco nodded but remained silent. More silence passed. Draco had no idea what to say now; he only knew he wanted to end this awful silence. He tried to think of conversational icebreakers.

"You went to both Hogwarts and Beauxbatons, correct?"

Astoria confirmed this by nodding.

"Which school did you prefer?"

"Well," Astoria thought for a moment. "I was Sorted into Hufflepuff when I went to Hogwarts, which was a lot more fun than you might think. Almost everyone in that house was very kind and friendly, and willing to help younger students, so that was definitely a good thing. Also, Professor Sprout- the head of our house- was a very good teacher and as the Herbology teacher she often brought specimens into our common room, which were always interesting to observe; sometimes we were able to watch plants that sang and dance! I liked the dormitory and common room a lot; they had very nice decor and were very comfortable. I liked most of my classes too, and learned a lot from them. Hogwarts was a very good experience indeed.

However, once Snape became Headmaster and the Carrows took over Hogwarts, my family sent Daphne and I to Beauxbatons for our protection. Beauxbatons was a good school too. Most people there were friendly, I already knew the language well so I had very little trouble communicating with others, some of them even knew English pretty well, and I was able to explore France, which was quite fun. It's hard for me to say which school was better, to which I enjoyed more, but I suppose I would say Hogwarts, if only because it was there one I was at slightly longer and was the first one I went to." Astoria concluded.

Astoria then proceeded to reminiscence to Draco about her experiences at Beauxbatons and Hogwarts while they waited for their meals and continued to do so even when the food arrived. He liked listening to her talk; he didn't have much to say, silence spoke much louder to him than actual conversation, and he wasn't very fond of loud noises.

As she spoken, Draco could not help but marvel at how different her school experience was than his. In her past schooling experiences, there was no torture, no worrying about whether or not she'd be alive the next morning, no having to worry about whether or not her actions and decisions would put others' lives on the line. How he would have switched places with her back then given the chance in an instant. He enjoyed her stories though, despite being slightly envious. He was able to imagine himself in her shoes, and pretended for a moment he had never been a Death Eater, never made all those wrong choices years ago. It was a pleasant feeling, though he could not identify a name for it.

Eventually, they finished their meals and Astoria Apparated them in front of a French department store. The two entered the store, and walked around, looking for the dress section. They were just walking past the lingerie section, when Astoria commented, forgetting Draco was with her it seemed, "Hmmm, I could use a new bra or two. That one over there is cute but at the same time doesn't look like it would show through any of my shirts. I should just go check to make sure it's my size. I should probably check the price first as well." Astoria walked over to the bras that were, it appeared as if they were on display, and looked at the price tag. Draco decided not to follow, being as Astoria was still within sight, and he strongly suspected it would be less than appropriate for him to go lingerie shopping with his boss.

"OH MY GOD! Draco come see this!" Astoria beckoned.

Draco walked over to her, having a bad feeling about this. "Yes?"

"Look at how expensive this is? "Astoria showed him the price tag, while he resisted the temptation to look at the label on the other side that listed the size.

He gaped. "*****15 Galleons? That's positively ridiculous!"

"I know!" Astoria agreed. "I suppose I can't buy this and still buy a brand new outfit for Monday. Shame, it looks so comfortable too." Sighing, she put the garment back on the rack and they made their way over to the dresses, much to Draco's relief.

Astoria went mad when she saw the selection, Summoning nearly all the ones that were in her size into the shopping cart. (Which Draco was in charge of moving, by the way.) The cart was practically overflowing with dress robes of all colors. Next, they went to the shoe section of the store, where Astoria tried on shoe after shoe and piled several pairs into the cart. Finally, they reached the dressing rooms, where Astoria would go in, try on a dress with shoes, come back out and show Draco her selection, and ask Draco for his opinion, to which he honestly gave one.

Draco was not one of those men who have no opinion when girls ask them about fashion. His mother had taken her shopping with him for as long as he could remember, and had taught him all there was to know about women's fashion. She had also installed it in him to always have an opinion about what a person was wearing, whenever asked.

Eventually, Astoria narrowed it down to five dresses and three pairs of shoes. She went into one of the dressing rooms to change.

After several minutes of waiting, Draco began to worry. He knew that for obvious reasons he wasn't supposed to go into the _women's_ dressing rooms. However, he knew that some women had their husbands wait outside the door for them. Maybe he should just go into the area and call her name…

He stood up and walked over to the area right in front of the dressing rooms after a few more minutes, and was about to go in when he heard voices talking.

"…Oh, you're Draco's mother? It's very nice to meet you. I'm Astoria Greengrass, your son's boss. Speaking of which, I should probably be getting back to- OH! Speak of the devil, there he is now. " Astoria, dressed in teal dress robes that brought out her sky blue eyes and wearing a pair of low heeled white pumps with flowers decorated on them, noticed him. Narcissa was standing next to her, smiling.

"Hello Draco!" His mother beamed at him. "Fancy meeting you here. I was just talking to

Astoria here. She's a very lovely young lady, Draco. You're lucky to have her." Here she winked at him.

"Mother, what are you doing here?" Draco asked her.

"Oh, I was just doing some shopping." Narcissa replied. "But don't mind me, you two carry on now. Good bye Astoria, we should meet again sometime. Perhaps you could come over for tea one day."

"I'd love to. Good bye Mrs. Malfoy." Astoria responded friendlily.

"Oh please call me Narcissa."

"Good bye Narcissa." Astoria corrected herself and Narcissa left.

Draco and Astoria went back to their shopping until Astoria eventually decide on what outfit she would wear Monday. They then proceeded to wait on a horrendously long shopping line until at long last they were able to pay, and then left the store.

"Let's see, it is now about four in the afternoon, so there's still one hour left before work gets out, and since we finally finished all of that paper work this morning I don't think there's anything left we have to do… Oh, it's Friday, let's just call it a day. Also, you can expect your paycheck to come in the mail this weekend. Have a nice weekend." Astoria informed him, taking the shopping bags he was carrying for her into her own hands.

"Good bye then." Draco said right before he Apparated home.

***Note, That may not sound like a lot of money, but if you go on the Harry Potter Wiki and find an article entitled Wizarding Currency and do the conversions… it's more than you'd think. **

**Please review! :D **


	4. The Chess War Begins

**Thanks so much to everyone who has reviewed, added to favorites or story alerts!*Hands out cyber chocolate.* I apologize for it being so long since I last updated. I don't know when my next update's going to be, but this story **_**will**_** be continued. Also, I decided to change the title of this fic because the original title didn't really fit the story that well.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own ****Harry Potter**** or any of the characters in this fanfic.**

Chapter 4: The Chess War Begins

Draco arrived to work Monday morning half an hour earlier than usual in case there was anything he needed to help Astoria with before the new employees arrived. Upon entering the building he found his boss's office empty except for a note on the door with only four words: I'm on the roof. Draco blinked and reread the note a couple of times to confirm that he had not imagined the sentence. Whatcould Astoria Greengrass possibly be doing on the roof? A couple of thoughts occurred to Draco: Was it even safe for her to be up there? How did she even manage to get up there in the first place? Could she possibly even be in danger?

Draco evacuated the office when he remembered that when Astoria had given him a brief tour of the building the week prior that she had mentioned there being a stairwell leading to the roof. He sprinted to the end of the corridor, pulled open the last door, and dashed up flights of stairs until he reached the roof top, which thankfully was not the type of roof that had a slippery surface: It was perfectly non-slip, perfectly flat, and therefore perfectly safe to walk on.

Astoria was there, standing up with her right foot planted firmly on her left thigh, and her arms folded over her head, while a circular object dangled from her fingers in front of her. "Five minutes exactly, "she commented. "Impressive. Personally, I had been expecting 5:09." She lowered her arms and legs, returning to a normal standing position.

"What are you talking about? "Draco panted, slightly out of breath from running up the stairs. "And what is that object you have in your hand?'

"This is a Muggle object called a stopwatch," Astoria explained. Muggles use it to time things. I

Saw you enter the building from here and decided to time you to see how long it would take you to get here. Congratulations, you exceeded my expectations."

"Is this another one of those infamous tests of yours?" Draco solicited suspiciously.

"No, that was actually done just for fun, "Astoria replied. "Although I suppose it is probably a good thing that you immediately came to find me….It probably says something about your character that I won't realize now because I have too many other things on my mind at present, but I will most likely have an epiphany about this later tonight, maybe around the time I'm eating dinner, am just about to fall asleep, or am letting Daphne think she's better at Wizard's Chess than I am so she doesn't feel bad about herself. She believes she's better at it than I am, but I just let her think that," Astoria lowered her voice conspiratorially to Draco as she said this last part. It was then that he noticed the empty tea cup residing on a chair that she had evidently brought outside with her. "Sometimes it takes me ridiculously wrong periods of time to realize things. I remember this one time when I was eleven Daphne told me a joke about cats that for some reason I mistook for a dumb blonde joke, so I got all offended by it which confused her but I refused to tell her why I was offended, and it wasn't until five years later that I got the joke. We laughed so hard about that when I told her this."

"Right…. What were you doing on the roof to begin with?" Draco silently hoped she had not just had a carton's worth of tea the way she preferred it. He had started to accept Astoria's zany, eccentric and wildly energetic demeanor, but there was only so much a man could handle in the morning.

"I was just doing some yoga exercises. I had one cup of tea, but that was it." Astoria answered, much to Draco's relief. "Has anyone else besides you shown up yet?"

"Not to my knowledge, "Draco responded flatly. He dreaded the thought of having to work alongside _Longbottom_, Loony Lovegood, Seamus Finnegan, Dean Thomas, and Lee Jordan.

"Weal, we best go downstairs I suppose, so that once everyone arrives I can give them the tour and then we can go to work. Oh by the way, I've made Daphne Vice President although she still will help with the designing."

Astoria waved her wand and levitated her cup and chair as they retreated down the stairs, until her chair was back in her office and her tea cup in the kitchen sink. Daphne had been in the kitchen reading a book, which she put down when she saw Astoria, and went with her and Draco to the door. Right at that moment the doorbell rang and Neville Longbottom opened the door. He froze when he saw Draco.

"Malfoy," he whispered. "What are you doing here?"

"Hello Neville, "Astoria greeted him warmly, shaking his hand. "I'm sure I don't need to introduce you to each other. Draco's my personal assistant."

Neville's eyes widened to the size of dinner plates.

"Don't worry, he can be trusted," Astoria assured him. Neville still looked apprehensive though. "I'm sorry, but Astoria, may I please talk to you in the other room?"

Draco was taken aback by the informality of his addressing her. The way he spoke seemed to indicate they knew each other quite well.

Astoria nodded, lead Neville into the room next door, and shut the door behind her. Draco pressed his ear against the key hole to hear what they were saying, but one of them must have cast the Muffliato Charm because he could not hear a single sound coming from the room. Several minutes later, Neville and Astoria emerged from the room. The doorbell rang again and Luna Lovegood entered the building.

She dressed just as unusual as she had at Hogwarts. She adorned a necklace of Butter Beer corks and earrings composed of live radishes. "Hello Miss Greengrass, hello Neville, hello Draco, hello Neville, "she greeted Draco as if they were acquaintances, which he supposed they were in a way: After all, his family had held her captive during the war for a few months. There was no malice, fear or surprise in her tone though. Draco contemplated whether or not it was possible that she had grown evens stranger since the war.

"H-hello Luna," Neville stammered in response. "You, er, said hello to me twice."

"That's because I like Neville," Luna stated mysteriously, as though she were talking to another person rather than Neville, hence he referring to him in the third person. In fact, she was not even facing him as he spoke, but was facing the air; perhaps, Draco mused wryly, she thought she was conversing with a Wrackspurt or something. Neville went beet red.

Draco noticed Neville appeared unable to take his eyes off her, in the way one may admire a piece of art. Draco suppressed a smirk. _I always suspected Longbottom had a thing for Lovegood. I'm honestly surprised they're not married yet. _

A few moments of silence passed before Lee Jordan, Dean Thomas, and Seamus Finnegan all entered at once and said the same exact thing: "Good morn-what's _he_ doing here?"

All three looked equally appalled at the sight of Draco.

"Draco's my personal assistant, "Astoria explained before all hell broke loose. The trio who had just arrived were all, it appeared, seeming to compete to see who could complain about Draco the loudest. Astoria waved her wand and performed a nonverbal spell that created a loud _BANG! _

"While I understand that for various reasons some of you are upset at the prospect of working with Draco Malfoy, I assure you it is perfectly safe to do so. Now, follow me and I'll give you a tour of the building." There was some grumbling at this, but all of the employees did as told, while the boys all glared suspiciously at Draco.

**G~G**

After the tour the employees all went to their offices. Astoria returned to hers, beckoning Draco to follow. "All right, so we have our landscape designers- Luna and Dean- Lee Jordan working for Customer Relations, Neville as our Herbologist, and Seamus is in charge of advertising." Draco shut the door behind him as Astoria took a seat. "What we need to do now is find a team of contractors. Let's see, it's 10:00A.M. now, so for the next two hours we will be going through these files to see if we can find anyone we may want to hire."

And so it was for the next hour or so, until Astoria left to go check on her employees. When she returned, she was fuming.

"I just went to say hello to Daphne," she informed Draco, "and asked if she may like to play a game of Wizard's Chess with me during lunch. You know what she did? She told me she would, she always likes winning. Well, she's been getting a little arrogant lately, so I conceded to letting her win every game she's ever won against me. And she _laughed_! That's right, she _laughed_! I know it's probably only because deep down she is feeling inferior to I-I was always under the impression growing up that she was slightly jealous of me- and I feel bad about that and everything, but that does not give her the right to mock me. So today at lunch, this game of wizard's chess is a battle royale! This match will determine once and for all which one of us is the real chess master!"

"Miss Greengrass, maybe it would be best if you returned to your work at the moment, "Draco, for perhaps the first time in his life, the voice of reason suggested.

"Indeed," Astoria agreed sitting down. "But once the hour hand on that clock strikes twelve, "Here she pointed at the clock in the room. "It's a battle royale, baby!"

Draco sighed and wondered if Greengrass' Green Grass could possibly be successful anytime at all in the near future.

**Questions to consider: What was going on with the interactions between Neville and Astoria? Who will win in the chess match of the ages next chapter: Daphne or Astoria? Please review!:D **


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